Training

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Hill (s)training

hills

Running hills are a pain in the butt for most of us and I’ll be damned if I would suddenly start doing hill repeats of any kind. In my world I have two choices: either make peace with walking all hills, always, or try to slowly trot to the top. Running hills, for me, is a contradiction in terms.

Admittedly I do walk most hills, especially the really steep ones. But as we know, hills make you strong so jogging up is definitely the better option. I will also acknowledge that the biggest gain in running hills is mental achievement, which in itself makes a massive difference in your perceived fitness levels.

As an average or slow runner, I’m as mentioned not in the market for hill repeats or hill training. I think you have to be able to run up a hill first before you can try to repeat it! If you can’t get up the blooming hill in the first place, how are you going to practise getting faster?

So here’s my 2cents worth of advice: the only way I can get myself up and over a hill is to just take it really really easy. Mimic the running action, but shorten your stride significantly. The aim is not to go out of breath or exert yourself to the point of no return. Use the same amount of effort as you would on the flat, keep your breathing and running rhythm the same, but progress s-l-o-w-l-y up the hill. When you get to the top, you should be able to continue running, while gradually increasing your stride length again to normal.

Hills should literally be taken in your stride. The confidence boost from getting to the top while still feeling okey, is phenomenal. Once you realise you can do it, hills are not so daunting and dreadful anymore. The key is to take it easy, really easy, even if it means running slower than what you could walk up a hill. The end result is you ran up the hill and didn’t succumb to walking. If you keep on doing this with every hill you encounter, it will automatically get easier! That I can vouch for, because hills are the necessary evil that makes you strong.

Now go out and tackle those hills head on with confidence. You can do it! 🙂

 

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First time centurion – the Tarawera Ultra 100km

Date: 7 February 2015
Distance: 100km
Time: 17:25.54

All photos by us, except the ones containing the TUM logo which are courtesy of Photos4sale and TUM. 

Happy to reach the finish. But leading up to this was a long journey …
Gerry at Te Puia, waiting for the opening ceremony.
Entering the Te Aronui a Rua Marae.
Nervous smiles before the big day ahead.
Wandering around Te Puia thermal world. The Pohutu Geyser putting up a show worthy of an international audience.
Malcalm Law, keynote speaker ahead of his High-5-O challenge. Very inspirational. (BTW, you can still text to contribute or make a donation.)
Q&A session with elite athletes from around the world. Seated LtoR: Pau Bartolo Roca, Dylan Bowman (2015 male winner), Jo Johansen, Nuria Picas-Albets, Mike Wardian, Robbie Britton and Ruby Muir (2015 female winner).
Nice touch – a stand at the expo where supporters can create signage to encourage their runners.
Daunting to see these registration tables and you know you have to go to the one with the longest distance.
All the entrants’ names were printed on a huge banner that featured outside the hotel.
I don’t think what lay ahead had sunk in at this stage yet.
Only a couple more minutes before the start. Can you feel the tension?
And away we go.
Only about 99.95km to go.
A few steps early on in the Redwood Forest on well maintained trails.
Beautiful scenery. Living here we sometimes lose sight of the lovely natural surroundings.
Long train of runners snaking through the forest.
Gerry clearly in high spirits.
Wonderful to run into a familiar face, June also from the Manawatu Striders.
A fantastic spread at the aid stations, fit for a king.
Running around Blue Lake. Little did we know when we first walked this trail in 2008 during a visit to NZ that we’d one day run this as part of a 100km ultra!
Happy days on the shores of Blue Lake.
“I can’t do this alone, oh oh oh oh o-ho…”
The variety of refreshments on offer made it difficult to choose, resulting in us perhaps spending a bit too much time at the early aid stations.
Sharing a laugh with the aid station crew.
No lack of fun and entertainment en route!
Aid station activities – eating, sorting out drop bags, filling water containers, checking gear.
Much of the day was run in the shaded forest, ensuring mild temperatures perfect for running.
Yet at the same time us Africans enjoyed the stretches in the sun, offering wider views of the rolling landscape.
Beautiful tree ferns lining the track.
Time for an aid station selfie! My cheeks bulging from sampling the spread on offer.
Slight change of scenery on the shores of Lake Okataina.
The heavy winds of the days leading up to the race left some challenging obstacles on the route.
More obstacles to slide over…
…or slip under.
Past the Tarawera Falls aid station (and 60km finish) the environment changed, with a greater percentage of the route run (or walked!) on forestry roads.
Made it! Having passed the final cut-off at the 70km Titoki aid station, we knew we just had to hang in there for another 30km to finish.
Not too impressed with the “arse-bitingly steep” hills on the loop of despair around the 80km mark.
Close to sunset, with just over 15km to go.
Over the final 5+ kms, many sections of the route were lit up with colourful fairy lights, turning our late night run into a forest fairytale. This picture doesn’t do it justice at all, but it was a really special experience.
Finally reaching the finish after almost 17.5 hours. Tired. but relieved and elated.
Such a special feeling, being able to experience these events together. I don’t know how lonely those hours in the dark must have been to solo runners.
A hug from organiser Tim Day, making each finisher feel special for having made it to the finish.
Receiving our lovely wood-cut Tarawera medals.
A special moment at the end of a very long day.
“Ju-ust the two of us, we can make it if we try…”

Turns out writing about a 100km event is just as hard as doing it. What can you say that hasn’t already been said before? Instead of repeating what you can read about the race on the comprehensive official website, I thought perhaps I should just give a broad overview of my experience of the race weekend.

We drove through to Rotorua (the venue for the race) on the Thursday, two days prior to race day, figuring it might be a good idea before taking on our first 100km run to arrive well in time and settle down before the event. The official opening was quite early on the Friday morning, so even more reason to arrive the day before. After the official race welcome (Powhiri) at Te Aronui a Rua Marae, Te Puia, things moved to the Holiday Inn where registration, the expo, talks, presentations and all the rest took place. It was a jolly occasion, with lots of athletes and their support crews pitching up for the pre-race activities. There was even a rogaine on the Thursday that drew quite a number of participants.

One of the highlights of the proceedings during Friday morning was the keynote talk by Malcolm Law. He really is an extraordinary person, being the first to do the seven Great Walks in NZ in seven days to raise money for leukaemia and blood cancer. This time around he is pushing his limits even further by attempting to scale 50 peaks, and in the process run a total of 50 marathons, in 50 consecutive days, of which the Tarawera Ultra marked the start. Through his extraordinary High-5-O Challenge Malcolm aims to raise $400 000 for Mental Health (having lost a brother-in-law to suicide). One of the things he said that stuck with me, was that if you ever think of doing something, just do it. And that is so true. All the things that I’ve ever thought of doing, but haven’t yet, still taunts me every day (like that PhD!). Another excellent point he made was that if something cannot be scientifically proven to be impossible, then it must be possible. Definitely something to keep in mind next time you feel something is “impossible”. Continue reading →

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North Range Road training run

All smiles in the early morning.
After starting on a good gravel road, the route soon gives way to a jeep track.
Between about 4 and 10kms, the route is quite rough – definitely 4×4 terrain.
Along the route, there are many service roads turn-offs which could potentially be confusing, but these are all locked with huge “No entry” signs, so no risks of missing the correct route.
It’s not all windmills – there are some trees too.
For the most part, North Range Road is pleasantly undulating.
Some small puddles can be jumped…
…while bigger ones have to be negotiated more carefully.
The result of stepping into a muddy section on the side of one of the larger water puddles.
A great morning for a run.
The majestic wind turbines form a scenic backdrop for the run.
Still very happy with my new Salomon hydration pack – it fits like a dream.
The windfarm features a range of different turbine types.
We only met two other people en route – this mountain-biker coming past from behind, and later a hiker passing us in the opposite direction.
What a view!
For the most part, the route consists of very well-maintained gravel roads.
The route winds its way through the hills and valleys of the Tararuas.
Flying down one of the downhills of Hall Block Road.
When you get to the end of the track at Gorge Road, it’s just a small distance to the Bridge Cafe.
Very stoked with our new training route – what a great morning out!

One of the problems when training for ultra-long events, is that you need to spend a lot of time on the road. Which means, unless you are inordinately blessed with a limitless supply of training routes and trails close to where you live, you are bound to end up traversing the same routes over and over. Using events as training runs is a great way to break the monotony, mix things up and keep your running exciting, but given the cost of many races in NZ, it also is one of the best ways to blow your budget faster than you can say “marathon”, as we dearly discovered during these past few months. Continue reading →

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Running for Research at the AMI Round the Bays

In less than 2 weeks time, Wouna and I hope to be lining up for the 2014 AMI Round the Bays Half Marathon in Wellington. The race has been on our radar for a couple of years, mainly because a major theme of the event is Running for Research, with all participants having the opportunity to set up a sponsorship page to help collect funds for the event’s main beneficiary, the Malaghan Institute of Medical Research. Continue reading →

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Super Seven Series – race 4

For this week's run we were treated to a glorious, sunny day, so the complementary sunblock was a welcome sight.

For this week’s run we were treated to a glorious, sunny day, so the complementary sunblock was a welcome sight.

With every step I take, I feel my lungs burn, I hear myself breath hard and fast and there’s a knot in my stomach that just won’t go away.

The reason? I’m going all out, trying to see how fast I can finish the 7 kilometre course of the Manawatu Striders Super Seven Series.

It’s week 4 of the series. Wouna and I unfortunately missed week 2, but for the first and third runs we kept to a fairly casual trot. Being far from racing fit, this seemed like a good approach, allowing us to enjoy our runs while still finishing fresh.

This week, however, being the halfway mark of the series, we decided to not run together like we always do, but each rather going at our own pace, to try and push it a little to see where our fitness levels are. Continue reading →